Three Rules
by CriminalIntelligence
Summary: He had three rules about his love life. No pregnant women, no widows, and no friends. It really sucks that he had to go and fall in love and break all three of them.


A/N: This is my fourth story for Manstead, yet I still don't own them nor do I own Chicago Med. I found this doc on my laptop and decided to just finish it off, hope you guys enjoy it. Review!

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Three Rules

He had three rules that he followed when it came to his love life.

1\. No pregnant women.

2\. No widowers

3\. No friends

He knew that he had broken the third rule years ago. He had fallen in love with Natalie when they were both in medical school. Before she had met Jeff and he had left Chicago. They had refused to do anything about it then, they were best friends and they hadn't wanted to jeopardize that.

Then he had come back to Chicago, and she just so happened to be working at the same hospital that he was. The two of them went back to being best friends and he had managed to shove those feelings aside. Jeff was great for Nat and he was okay with their friendship, so Will gladly stayed on the backburner.

And then Jeff was killed, and he knew that he needed to be there for her, with no extra expectations. He didn't think that anything would happen between them afterwards. She was a widower; it went against his ideals of dating. Yet, Natalie wasn't his girlfriend, she was his best friend and it wasn't anything romantic. So the rules didn't apply to her, and he didn't stop those feelings from seeping back in, he wouldn't act on them anyway.

Then, just weeks after Jeff's body came home, she found out about the baby. And the first person she had turned to was Will. She knocked on his door at three in the morning, and Jay was the one who answered it, gun drawn. He dropped it quickly, and pulled the crying woman into his chest, calling Will.

" _Will, wake up. Will!" Jay called as he held the sobbing widow._

" _What the fuck Jay! It's three in the morning." He muttered, a short blonde clad just in his button-up shirt following behind. The girl behind him whined, but once Will saw Natalie, he practically forgot about the girl he had taken home._

" _Nat?" He whispered, slowly walking up to her. Jay let her go, and got the girl her clothes before sending her to the bathroom to change. When Natalie saw Will she broke down, and he had just enough time to catch her as she fell. He had seen her cry, and breakdown because of what happened to Jeff, but this was the worst he had ever seen her._

" _I'm- oh fuck Will." She cried, barely able to speak. He pulled her close, sliding his arm under her legs and picking her up with ease. He heard the front door close and he nodded at Jay, silently thanking him for getting rid of the girl. He walked into his bedroom, placing her on the bed and kneeling in front of her. Jay walked in with a glass of water and bid the two of them goodnight. She took as sip of water and a shaky breath._

" _I'm pregnant Will."_

It was a turning point in their relationship. Not only was she a widow, but she was pregnant too. He knew that no matter what, he had to be there for her and the baby. The kid needed a father-figure in his life, and Will didn't keep it a secret that he was willing to step up to the plate.

Somewhere in the next six months everything shifted. He didn't know when he stopped hiding how he felt, but he knew he had. He watched how his brother and Erin were together and he knew that's how other viewed his friendship with Natalie. She didn't see that there was anything there, and he was fine with it staying that way. April and Maggie gave him cheeky looks whenever he did something sweet for her at work, and Jay constantly bugged him during the nights where he would sneak in late, having fallen asleep at Natalie's. He would say Will was almost as whipped as him. Erin had made a joking comment saying that the Halstead brothers made amazing house husbands.

Yet even though he wasn't trying as hard to hide it anymore, he was still sure she hadn't realized how he felt. She had the baby and work to deal with, it wasn't something she was focusing on.

He was wrong.

"When did it change? She asked him one day as they were on their break. Will spun around to look at her.

"I- uh, what?" He stuttered.

"Between us, when did it change?" She sat down on the couch, and he sat down next to her, folding his hands in her lap.

"Its always been like that for me, never changed." He said simply and she nodded.

"It changed for me… somewhere along the way, I fell back into old habits." Will's eyebrows creased, and he knew that his mouth was open a little.

"What does that mean then?" He asked, not sure if he was asking what she meant, or if he was asking where that would leave them.

"Am I supposed to move on this quickly? Or is it because of you. Because if this is how I would feel regardless, then I'm a horrible person."

"Nat, how could you even think that?" He exclaimed.

"Because Will, I miss him, but I don't cry over Jeff every night anymore. And if its not how it usually works, then there is only one other conclusion and it scares me." Will moved closer to her and placed his hand against her cheek.

"I love you." She whispered, turning away from him, and Will felt his heart squeeze. "And no one moves on this quickly so I don't think I ever actually stopped loving you, which still means I was a shitty wife." She concluded.

"Nat, just because you felt something for me over the years while you were married to Jeff doesn't make you a bad wife. You loved him, and a part of you always will. Just like how what we felt for each other in medical school stayed with you, but that was hidden because you loved Jeff. You didn't realize what you felt, and if he was still alive, you wouldn't have even considered the possibility." She turned back to him, her eyes wet, a tear straying down her cheek and Will brushed it away with his thumb.

"I would have never considered it a possibility." He whispered.

Natalie looked straight in his sharp blue eyes, and Will had to hold himself back from melting into her brown ones. He placed his large hands on either one of her cheeks and pulled her to him; as close as her stomach would let her.

"I love you Nat, so much, and for so long." She smiled, looking between his eyes and his lips, and he pulled her in. Their lips met halfway, her hand automatically going to his collarbone, resting there and curling around his blue scrubs. It was something they had both been denying for so long and both of them reveled in finally being able to relax in the others hold. One of Will's hand moved from her face down to rest on her stomach, and the baby started kicking. Will pulled back laughing, looking down with a glint in his eyes. Natalie smiled before pulling him back down.

Yet she pulled away just as quickly when the baby gave a sharp kick to her ribs. She winced, and Will looked at her worried, holding her waist.

"Was that-?" He began to ask and she cut him off with a nod.

"Seems little one is happy that we finally figured this out." Natalie laughed before wincing once more and she clutched her stomach.

"Okay. Let's go then." He grinned, wrapping his arm around her waist, holding her to him, letting her support her weight against his side. "Atleast we're already here."

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Fourteen hours later Alexander Jeffery Manning was born. And as Will watched Natalie feed the newborn he realized that the three rules he broke was the best thing that he had ever done in his life.

He had everything that he could ever want, and he wouldn't ever change the way he got it.

END


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